Freshers' Week! - Academic Side

Reflection then of my very first week at university, otherwise (popularly known) as "Freshers' Week!" For some people, this is what they were looking forward most to coming to university, but I myself was not 100% eager.

In this article, I am discussing about the academic side of Freshers' Week, so I am covering what the contents of the lectures I attended were and whether I packed the correct stuff to bring with me to university.

In my first week, we had a handful of small lectures (just 5 hours!) that introduced us to the course structure which provided us with all the information we needed prior to start studying next week. A few learning points that I picked up from these sessions were that lectures lasted 50 minutes (as do the tutorials), that we would be learning basic medical knowledge from now until Christmas (for the first term) which will help us to build on our knowledge from the remainder of the year.

It was quite nice actually that Freshers' Week was not too intense, and the lecturers themselves said it was so that we can adjust to our new ways of living. What you need to remember is we are now completely independent, some of us have moved far away from home whilst some of us have moved different countries to study at my university. Therefore, you should use Fresher's Week to begin to sink into your new lifestyle.

An update on what I packed, I have made some adjustments! You'll be proud to hear that I have used everything I have packed, so I didn't pack excessively. However, there is two things that I really do believe are important essentials!

Firstly, a printer. Although you read online about universities providing printing facilities, I feel they are quite expensive and for me, inconvenient. I am a 25 minute bus journey and five minute walk from the university library where I can print, so if I want something printed now, it takes a lot of effort. If you can deal with this, maybe you wouldn't need to pack one! But I am one of those people that can be up until midnight finishing work, creating posters to tack to my wall or annotating notes I have typed up - so I need to print straight away from my room!

Secondly, a portable charger. For the first week, you'll literally be using your mobile phone so much for navigation, it's unbelievable. You'll be using it to plot the route from the bus stop you're at now to your lecture hall and grunting the ETA is 9:08am when the lecture starts at 9am. You'll also be using your phone to add loads of people and new friends you make on social media (read my Social article if you want to find out more!)

So I hope this has helped explained the more academic side of Freshers' Week. If you're interested in the social aspect, I recommend you read my other article!

PS. My room did stay tidy the whole week! :)